The first and only female professional Tabla player in the world, Anuradha Pal has been internationally acclaimed as an accomplished soloist and a versatile and sought after accompanist.

A disciple of the World-renowned Tabla maestro's, Late Ustad Alla Rakha and Ustad Zakir Hussain, Anuradha has performed extensively in India, USA, UK, Europe, Australia, Japan and the far- east with top ranking musicians like Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Imrat Khan, Vishwamohan Bhatt, Shahid Parvez, Sultan Khan, Smt Veena Sahasrabuddhe amongst others. She has performed in prestigious festivals like WOMAD, Rhythm Sticks, Bath International Music Festival, Music Wizards of India, Tokyo Music Festival, Phoenix Music Festival amongst several others all over the world.

An irrepressible creativity, tremendous clarity and a fine tonal quality along with exciting rhythmic improvisations and spontaneity are the hallmarks of her style. An unremitting devotion to practice and learning have given Anuradha a meaningful identity amongst the musicians of today helping her to carve a distinct niche of her own. The prestigious Encyclopedia Britannica, the Asian-American Who's who journal as well as the Limca Book of Records have lauded Anuradha for her contribution to music as well as for her well balanced musicianship.

Anuradha has been widely hailed as a child prodigy who started performing at the age of ten and half years first as a Tabla soloist and then as an accompanist. She first learnt vocal classical music with Tabla as an adjunct to get a firm foundation in raga and tala principles, before her exuberant passion made way for a successful profession.

The Films Division of India made a documentary film titled 'Aaj ki Nari' and featured Anuradha along with a galaxy of great women achievers in 1999. The renowned USA based Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) made a film titled ' Adventure Divas' featuring Anuradha Pal as one of the great women achievers of India and the World. This film was telecast in USA in September 2001.

Anuradha was featured in the BBC Radio World Service Program as one of the 'Five Prominent Women Musicians of India' in 1991. She has been widely featured on ITV, Asia TV(USA), BBC world service television and radio (UK), Australian and Japanese TV- Radio channels and Indian channels like Star TV, Zee, Alpha, ETC, ETV, Doordarshan and Radio amongst others around the world. Anuradha is on the prestigious panel of artists on the Indian Council of Cultural relations. She represented India in the 'Asian Performers Summit' in February 1999 where she spoke on Performers rights amidst an august gathering of International Musicians in Japan.

In 1996, Anuradha formed India's only all female percussion based instrumental and vocal fusion group called ' Stree Shakti'. Stree Shakti has performed extensively in India and the UK in the WOMAD Festival, Rhythm Sticks festival, BBC Music Live Festival, Asian Music Festival, amongst others enthralling audiences not only by their amazing prowess in male dominated fields of Indian Percussion but also for their well evolved interesting Hindustani-Carnatic combination. (North and South Indian music) Their album also titled ' Stree Shakti ' became one of the best selling classical albums in 2001.

An A grade artist of the All India Radio, a recipient of many prestigious awards, Anuradha has several cassettes and CDs both as a Tabla soloist and accompanist released both in India and abroad. An added dimension is her amazing foray into music direction and composition both in the medium of films as well as commercial music albums like ' Shanti - in search of peace. ' (Spiritual essence of India) and ' Stree Shakti.' She composed the background score completely on Tabla in the acclaimed film " Gaja Gamini" by M. F Husain which was highly appreciated both in International Film festivals and by audiences around the globe.

Anuradha did an extensive concert tour of UK in July 2002 where she presented 'Stree Shakti' in the World Premier in the ' Commonwealth Games festival City of London festival at the Barbican Centre (London), Cardiff Jazz Festival amongst other concerts in Reading & Manchester. Here she also collaborated and composed several pieces with the Pan African Orchestra in a unique fusion titled ' India & Africa in Conversation' which was a great success.

ANURADHA PAL

- BEATING THE GENDER BIAS

by

Isidore Domnick Mendis

"The clarity of bass has nothing to do with gender though it distinguishes a professional from an amateur - male or female." - Anuradha Pal

In a country where men pull the strings as far as classical musical instruments are concerned, the entry of women is frowned upon and discouraged even if they are known to possess talent in abundance. Anuradha Pal is no stranger to the phenomenon.

For her it has been a hard-won battle in a field traditionally dominated by men. But she has persevered, honing her skills till it was no longer possible for the purists to stop her.

Even as a girl of seven when she began learning tabla under the tutelage of Manikrao Popatkar there was shock and dismay though most of the family friends dismissed it as a fleeting fancy of a kid.

Over two decades later, today, the Mumbai girl is being hailed as a prodigy. She performs with maestros like Pandit Jasraj, Hariparsad Chaurasia and Vishwamohan Bhatt; she has featured in the Limca Book of World Records as India’s first woman tabla player and given background score for M.F.Hussain's Gaja Gamini.

This is just a small part of Anuradha Pal's introduction. Her two gurus, the late Ustad Allah Rakha Khan and his son, Ustad Zakir Hussain never get tired of showering encomiums upon her.

She has featured on BBC, ITV (USA) and Australian TV. She has performed in the Greenwich International and Bath International festivals in England that invite the world’s outstanding music celebrities. BBC Radio has called her one of the 'Five Top Women Musicians of India', she also finds mention in the Encyclopedia Britannica and has been included in The Asian American Who's Who'.

In 2002 she undertook a tour of UK where she preformed in the World Premier of the 'Commonwealth Games festival, City of London festival at the Barbican Centre (London), Cardiff Jazz Festival and held concerts in Reading and Manchester.

But the going was not a bed of roses. Initially she wasn't taken seriously as she did not have a music family background. Some critics said that the strikes of a tabla needed forceful manipulation of wrists and forearms that cannot be achieved by the delicate wrists of a woman.

She dismisses the handicap of not coming from a musical family. She also demolishes the myth that the soft feminine hands are not meant for tabla. " In today's electronic age even whispers can be magnified suitably. The clarity of bass has nothing to do with gender though it distinguishes a professional from an amateur--male or female."

The truth is, says Anuradha, there has been a marked gender bias against women musicians especially in male-dominated fields. "Women have been consciously kept away from the tabla on the pretext that they don't have the kind of stamina required for it."

"Often, famous musicians would not allow me to accompany them on the fast tracks. Being a woman I was not supposed to have the energy to sustain the tempo. At times I became so frustrated that I just wanted to give it all up," she says.

But she never gave up. And today she has not just shattered the stereotypical image of women musicians but has established herself as a gifted tabla player who is pushing the dimensions with her experimentations.

A postgraduate in English Literature from Mumbai University, she started out by learning from her brother who is an accomplished tabla player. She gives credits to her mother, Ila Pal, a celebrated writer and painter. "Had it not been for the encouraging attitude of my family I couldn't have achieved such success."

But more than her family it is her guru, the legendary Ustad Alla Rakha she reveres the most. "I touched his feet and told him to accept me as his fourth son and groom me as he had groomed them," she reminisces.

Anuradha's ever-increasing repertoire has been enthralling audiences both in India and abroad. She performs regularly in the ITC Sangeet Samelan, the Gunidas Sangeet Samelan and overseas she has given solo performances and jugalbandis in the US, England, Japan, Australia and the Far East.

It has been an eventful decade for Anuradha. In 1996 she formed Stree Shakti - the first all-women north-south percussion fusion ensemble. It is a unique synthesis of percussion with melody combining some of the best talents in Hindustani and Carnatic Music. Besides cutting an album, the group undertook a concert tour of UK where it performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

Anuradha has a number of solo albums to her credit. Her first, Shanti is a composition of ragas, the second, Anokha is a fascinating rendering of different taal of Hindustani music and Sensation comprises live concert recordings in Australia. For her achievements she has been honoured with the Bhatkhande Lalit Shiksha Samiti Award, Pandit Jasraj Award for Excellence in Music, Mahakal Samman Award and more.

However, the turning point in her career came when she was asked to compose the background score for M.F. Husain's Gaja Gamini. "He had attended many of my concerts and that's why he gave me the offer," says Anuradha whose mother has authored a biography of M.F.Husain titled Beyond The Canvas.

"It is the only film where tabla forms the background score. It took me 20 days to work it out," says Anuradha about Gaja Gamini, which was previewed in the Cannes Film Festival and her background score came in for special mention. Since then, offers have been coming thick and fast but Anuradha seems more interested in live stage concerts. "Live performances have energy of their own. Nothing can match the spontaneous applause of a real audience."

In the last two decades and more she has been getting this spontaneous applause from a worldwide audience. She modestly acknowledges that the tabla is still a parashin or subjective instrument but with her determination and will to succeed, she dreams of becoming an artist who needs no introduction.

Though it was girlish idealism which set her upon the unconventional path, Anuradha is today proud of having successfully challenged a male myth and has demonstrated that the barriers of prejudice in many musical disciplines are waiting to be knocked down.

A disciple of the legendary Ustad Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain, Anuradha Pal has been recognised by the Limca Book of Records as the first professional woman tabalchi.

And asking her how she feels about this, she merely shrugs her elegant shoulders and comments casually on the chauvinism that still exists in the classical instrumental music world. But her voice betrays the anger she feels about the chauvinist attitude. Establishing herself as one of the brightest young stars amongst the Tabla players of the younger generations, I ask her about how Tabla happened to her.

She relaxes at her Juhu apartment and speaks to me about her deep association with Tabla. When she speaks to me about her association with this instrument, her eyes glow with a feeling that words cannot really express. Relaxing against the backdrop of her terrace at her Juhu apartment, Anuradha animatedly tells me about the long love affair she has with this instrument. Playing for more than a decade, the fascination for this instrument started when she was eight years old. And since then the beats of the istruments became the beats of her heart. As a child it was vocal music which had a fascination for her and she learnt tabla to get a sense of rhythm for her classical vocal music. Her family were not into the music profession and the closest she came to with the creative field is through her mother who is an atist. But she goes on to explain to me about about her family and how it influenced her to scale the heights in her profession. The background Anuradha comes from is unlike other family backgrounds. It has a very professional outlook. A person has to prove his own merit to be respected in this family and no one could be ordinary. Everyone strived to be the best in their profession and this trait grew on to young Anuradha and pushed her to reach the heights. With pride in her eyes she says," My parents are my inspiration and the back bone of my strength" and attributes her success to them. Along with the A's, B's and the C's Anuradha was taught how important it was to become a person of calibre to merit for respect in the family and she recounts how important those values became to her to scale the heights.

But talking about music, she says her grandmother who is a patron of arts was the indirect influence in opening up the avenues to the world of music. The tender look that passes through her face when she speaks of her grandmother is hard to miss. She recounts her grandmother as being a patron of arts and an incredible personality who was a very warm, caring and a loving person. She was surronded by the likes of Pandit Jasraj, Hariprasad Chaurusia and other masteros of today who, at that point of time were yet to make their mark in the music world. Anuradha was influenced by their music. Her parents too shared her love for music and encouraged her to pursue her love. And this is how her association with music started.

As a child Anuradha was introvert by nature and but music brought her out. It was in music that she found her calling and this world opened horizions to young Anuradha.

When Anuradha started playing at the tender age of eight, she did not forsee the many difficulties. Along with her music, her studies were also important. After recieving initial training from Manikrao popatkar and Madan Mishra, Anuradha began attending concerts regularly. " It was an unwritten rule in my house that we should good at studies, besides selecting a sport and an art form for in-depth activity," she reminisces. She would spend most of her time jostling between studies an riyaz. After watching Ustad Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain on stage, she approached the former to accept her as a disciple. as for as learning she was never discouraged. She would practise for three to four hours every morning, but at the same time she never ignored her studies. Her schooling was from Jamnabai Narsee School. She recounts those years as being one of the best years. Doing well in the boards, she joined Ruparel college in the science stream but later joined Mithibai college. Graduating in English Literature, she balanced remarkably well both her education and the endless hours of practise. She says if she had not found her calling in tabla, she would have got into engineering. But as a child she recounts of wanting to be a jockey. She laughs of those childhood dreams, but then says she did learn to horse ride on a professional level. But an accident shattered those childhood dreams.

Anuradha says that she was always told to be different and never be stereotyped. In her attitude she comes across as a very strong person. And today, she is proud that she has achieved something different. She is the only female professional tabla player and is considered a maestro in her own accord.

She gave her first concert at 17, when she palyed at the three day Swar vilas Festival which featured luminaries like Kishori Amonkar, Jasraj and Shobha Gurtu. Her performance was a rage in the music world and she took the music world by storm. Her mastery over tabla is exceptional and the headlines said that she was another Zakira in making. When I asked Anuradha how she took to all this applause, all she said was that her hard work had finally paid off.

Soon she began giving performance in US, Europe and Hongkong and when I speak to her about her performances, she says every one of them was memorable and every performance taught her something. However, with recognition she also felt the resentment from certain quarters. "As long as I did solos, things were fine. The moment I started playing the role of an accompanist, the problem started," she explains. According to her, "Male ego is something that is predominant in our society and they found it hard to admit that a woman could match them, or play in their midst," she says. When she speaks of male chauvinism, the anger which she tries to disguise surfaces. " When people have growwn up with a certain idea, any change is unwelcome. for some strange reason, the female artiste is alwauys expected to underplay her role. What's worse, there is no promotion, no help and little recommendation from bigger artistes." To elaborate her point, the tabalchi cites certain instances when somebody told her," Ladki hoke bhi achcha baja leti hai," and another instance when she was told to play by an artiste only the vilambit portion and not the drut. Anger dominates her tone when she speaks to me of the injustice meted out to her just because her counterparts had over inflated egos. But when I speak to her about her gurus, her voice marks the respect she holds for them, the reverence she holds them in. She has'nt been able to speak to her gurus on this issue of bias. It was her parents she turned on to when the path turned tough. Her family stood by her and supported her through every highs and lows of her profession. And on the musical front the audience were enthralled by the hypnotising quality of Anuradha's music. Her fingers spun magic on the tabla and the music enthralled the audience. Talking about her role models, Anuradha describes Ustad Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain as her role models. She describes them as complete, ideal and perfect musicians. She holds them in the highest esteem and places them in the altar of perfection. She says it was'nt easy being a disciple of such great masteros. " There were times when playing with Zakir Hussain overawed me and sent me to jitters" she says. She describes Abbaji and Zakir as perfectionist who set such high standard for themselves and expect the same from their pupils.

¨ 'The hall buzzed when ' Stree Shakti' led by Anuradha Pal took the stage. .. And indeed looking like the heroine of a Bollywood musical, her waist length hair falling across her shoulders as she played her Tablas, Pal and her partners were sensational… as Sukanya's Ghatam conversed with Pal's Tablas and Latha's Kanjira, creating a spell. The first female group to bring together traditions from north and south, fighting gender and caste prejudices, Stree Shakti exuded physical confidence and joy.

- The Scotsman,May '00

'World class musicians prove Stree Shakti- stunning display by Anuradha Pal'

- Maldon Standard. - July 1999

'Pure Music- what a storm!!'

- India weekly review of the performance at the WOMAD festival - August 1999.

'There were duets and solos of each of the performers, there were the smiles, the laughs, the head and hand movements in time with the beat, and there was the ecstatic game-playing. Designed good-naturally and spontaneously ending in enlightened climaxes. Enthusiastic applause…. the audiences had been bewitched!!!'

- Anglican Times - 1999.

'The all female Stree Shakti group, led by Anuradha Pal, enthralled listeners with their exceptional percussive talents.''

- Leicester Mercury - July 1999

'Stree Shakti rebuffs the belief that the field of instrumental music is primarily befitting of male artists. Their performance in the Tagore theatre (Chandigarh) last night will remain in the memories of the music lovers for a long time as so mething unique where one could actually feel the upliftment of the senses to new heights. What was delightful was the rapport and spontaneous communication that the artists shared on the stage; despite their apparent diversity .The success of the event could be gauged by the involvement of the audience. Several of them could be seen clapping their hands and swaying

- The Tribune - Oct 1998.

'Stree Shakti's live concert was an explosion of percussion at its best, mixing traditional music with a contemporary approach.'

- July 1999.

'And here's the difference between this music and Western music- the interplay within a tight framework, the dialogue between players, the shared enjoyment of the music and those wonderful instruments. The pace quickened as the three percussionists played in glorious union. It was a performance that took my breath away with its sheer virtuosity, exuberance and joy. More applause … then the finale with again the percussionists playing the rare six and half beat Tabla together, each different, all aiming towards the same musical climax in their individual way, each with eyes focussed on the other, smiling, challenging, goading, encouraging, ending… A wonderful evening during an evening full of wonders. At Borroworob, great music is without cultural and linguistic barriers. And this was beautiful music in any language, a mix of Classical and modern Indian music, performed expertly by six diminutive ladies with music in their fingers and embedded deep within their souls.'

-Review of their Liverpool performance on www.borroworob.com

'Hypnotic taste of Indian Music - absolutely stunning performances.'

- Essex chronicle May '00.

Alluring display of Indian girl power- simply magic!!'

- East Anglican Times - August '99.

Another Interview with Julie Costanzo ...at pbs.org

Anuradha Pal
tabla maestra

"…If I don't practice, I can't get to sleep at night. It's an addictive thing for me. It's where I have the maximum fun…"    

Julie Costanzo        &nbs p;         &nbs p;

They told her she was too small to play the Tabla drums — that it was a man's instrument — and those warnings only spurred her on. Anuradha Pal has been performing since she was 11. She plays solo, as an accompanist with other accomplished musicians and with the percussion ensemble Stree Shakti. And still, she says, she's got a long way to go. Read what she has to say about:

• practice
• women Tabla players
• gurus
• the art of Tabla
• Stree Shakti
• humility

Holly: Okay, the first thing I wanted to ask is, why in the car, you brought up your spiritual album? Why was that, of all your albums, the one you mentioned?

AP: Ah, that's only because it was new experience for me. To do a spiritual album, one would not normally [expect that] from a Tabla player. This is an album that actually gives a sense of 5000 years of Indian spirituality, and I did this over one and half years of research. And basically I've always been interested in spirituality, and that concept, because when we perform on stage or when I practice, basically that is like a prayer, it's a devotion.

And I've been fortunate to have a couple of spiritual experiences…once when I was practicing, it was like 7:30 in the evening or 8:30 in the evening, I don't remember the time and my mom came there and she brought a light and I was sitting in pitch darkness and playing and I didn't even realize that it had already gotten dark and I needed to put on the light. I was surely probably going through some kind of a spiritual experience, but I felt so connected that I just didn't feel the need of anything external around me.

Holly: Why is the album called Shanti?

AP: Shanti means peace, and essentially all of us are looking for peace, we are looking to find ourselves, and so that's why. The album actually takes a journey from creation to salvation. Going through that journey of life, to find inner peace and joy.

Holly: What do you think it means to artists in India to be creating in a culture that's 5000 years old?

AP: I think it's a great legacy to have to live up to, absolutely, it's a big challenge, because you have a tradition of music, of culture, and it obviously means that you know, you have to live up to those things, you have to keep on trying to innovate, while trying to stick to a certain structure, so that's where it's a little bit of a challenge, you know, to be creative. So that means you have to be very individualistic, and as a musician, when you perform, for example, you just get up, you're not performing a set composition. You're not doing things that just your guru has taught you, you have to go ahead. You have to give it your own individuality, and only after you've been able to do that, would you be actually recognized.

Holly: Recognized by?

AP: Recognized by the audience, by the critics, by the musicians.

Holly: Are you talking about improvising?

AP: No, I'm talking about the pattern of improvisation. And that is that you improvise while keeping the certain structure or certain tradition in mind, so while you're moving, you're creating new, but it's coming from something of the past. So that obviously means you have to very well-rooted into what your tradition is, but be able to look ahead, have a broad vision and move from today into tomorrow.

Holly: Do you practice at 3 in the morning?

AP: Sometimes I do, sometimes it's funny, there's something that strikes you in the middle of the night, okay, you've been thinking about something, and you're just not getting it, you're just not getting the answer, and then, that answer, you got it, so you better practice and then sometimes, you'll have not had enough of a practice through the day because you've been running around doing other things, and then, the thing about music, if I don't practice, I can't get to sleep at night. It's an addictive thing for me. It's where I have the maximum fun. When I practice, I'm at peace with myself. It's necessary for my self-growth, not only for my self-growth, but my survival, literally.

Holly: What do you think would happen if someone took the Tabla?

AP: It's not as much as the Tabla, basically the Tabla is within me, I mean, I think rhythm is, you know, it's gotten, inside, and the need to express obviously, I express it through the Tabla, so if somebody were to take that away, ooh, man, I'll be dead.

Holly: Are there other things in your life that express that kind of ritual? Like prayer or any sort of devotional thing?

AP: Really, it's not ritualistic.

Holly: No?

AP: No, it's a need. It's like we sleep at night, we breathe, is that a ritual? That's not. We drink water, we have food, is that a ritual? You can make it a ritual, you can have wine tasting rituals, but drinking water is not a ritual, it's a need, it's necessary. Similarly, playing Tabla for me is a need; it's something that's necessary to my survival.

And so, well it is spiritual for me, that it definitely is. It's a spiritual experience, because, when I practice, when I sit on stage, that's when I'm feeling at peace with myself. That's when I'm feeling, I'm really getting some joy out of it, I can't express it, you know. But it's what delights my soul, like nothing else does.

Holly: What situation makes you feel the opposite, are there situations in your life that make you feel the opposite? Where do you feel most at unrest?

AP: When there's a lot of politics in the field, there's a lot of unnecessary things in the field…

Holly: The business side of things, you mean?

AP: I don't mean the business side, as much as I mean the seedy side of things. You know, for example, like I early on used to have problems of musicians, some musicians, being very, very appreciative of me, but not giving me opportunity because I was girl. Now that obviously frustrates me, because I'm fighting against something I have no control over. I have control over my hard work, I have control over the determination, I have control over my efforts, but something what God willed me to be, I have no control over.

Holly: So, women don't play Tabla generally.

AP: Uh, no, not really. They do play as a hobby. But, making a profession of something like this is a totally different ballgame. So, that's where the challenge comes from.

Holly: So you don't have it in your blood, and you're a girl, so how come you are where you are?

AP: Okay, well see it's like this. I think for one, I'm a very determined person. I know that there have been a lot of obstacles I've faced. But I have faced them with a certain degree of resignation. Which has basically come from my family, and that's where I will credit the strength behind whatever I've been able to do, as being my family, that's supported me all the way through, and my gurus that have given me excellent training.

Holly: Tell me about your gurus. The concept of a guru is, I think it means something different to me than it does here.

AP: What does it mean to you?

Holly: Well guru in my mind is sort of blind devotion, and my sense of what it means here is more of a teacher, but I don't know.

AP: Well actually it is blind devotion, a combination of a blind devotion, a teacher, but more than a teacher. You know a teacher is somebody who can teach you anything, you can go learn science, physics, math, whatever from a teacher. But in the case of guru, what we, what our Indian tradition tells us to do, is to surrender. You know, it's love, worship, and devotion towards a particular guru, his music, his style, his approach to music, and you're following that with a degree of not only devotion, but a certain surrender. Which I think, is just alien to a Western rational mind, whereas it's what has been our tradition, for years now.

Holly: And how do you become an individual? How do you express your individual creativity within that context, is it a process or is there no conflict there?

AP: Oh, there's a huge one, but that's a very good question, because that's exactly what I was saying -- that you have to have this improvisatory attitude while sticking to a traditional setup. And that is where the challenge is. Let's say for example you're doing a Western, you know in Western music, you're doing a certain symphony. That symphony is already written down, it's already prescribed and all the conductor is doing is interpreting it. Whereas here, we are interpreting according to the moment, so that's why you would hear the same artist perform it differently depending on what that audience gives him.

Holly: Can you tell me, just for the record, what Tabla is?

AP: Tabla is basically, a two-piece drum, it's one of the most popular rhythmic instruments of India, percussion instruments. And it's made of the right hand side — usually, that's called Tabla — and the left hand side, which is the bass drum, which is called Baya, and it has a beautiful combination of treble and bass and the mid-tones. And it's beautifully, and aesthetically and scientifically evolved.

Holly: Evolved?

AP: Yes, in its process of presentation. Now, for example, we have halves and quarters and three fourths, and all those quarter beat and half beat calculations, but behind all those calculations, actually or rather, more important than all those calculations is the aesthetic value of the presentation, and that is exactly what the Tabla is able to create, in spite of its complexity, you know…

Basically the Tabla is played with ten fingers — the tips, the middle, every single part of the finger is used. And essentially, more actively played by eight fingers, because the thumb is not used that much.

And it's aesthetically evolved by the way the sound is produced. Because here we're not playing it on, for example, on a keyboard, where you would have a certain volume. It's like a simple thing, you can, hit like that or you can hit like that. Now that's going to create a different effect, and similarly, this is also, you know, just the same way. That it's you know, how, how you hit your note, and there are so many different sets of sounds that it has. It's just such a massive range of sounds, that, I mean I've had people come up to me and say that it sounds like you're playing a whole drum set or three drum sets all together with one Tabla, you know, and that's, in spite of the fact that it's just two drums, and just two hands, and you don't have a snare drum and kick drum and a clash symbols and all that. You don't have anything; you don't have ten drums on you, just two little drums.

Holly: What do you think drew you to it, I mean, there's a lot of other more socially sanctioned instruments that you could have taken up, right?

AP: When I was small, I come from an academically-oriented family. My father is a well-known publicist, my mother is a painter. So I had that combination of the science and the arts in the family. And we were encouraged, my brother and I were encouraged to learn some form of music or dance, and he picked up Tabla, and I picked up classical vocal music. But I was essentially going to learn classical vocal music.

And that's because in my family we had sort of a tradition of a lot of musicians coming in, dropping in, and singing and basically from the time I was small, like born in the hospital, music was always going around. So in that sense, there was a sort of learning happening at that very young age, where I was exposed to it, and my parents being interested, my grandparents being interested, so that obviously meant that, you know, I was exposed to it all the time.

My brother learned Tabla, and I learned classical vocal, and then looking at him, I said that I want to learn Tabla, and the teacher said, "You're a girl, you're too small, you have little fingers, you can't play — it's a boy's strength.' And so I said, 'Please give me a chance, I want to learn.' And, everybody was discouraging, so I learned anyway, you know, because I always had this thing within me that if you tell me not to do something for the wrong reasons, I'm not going to agree with you.

Holly: Can you tell me about Stree Shakti?

AP: Stree Shakti is India's only all-female percussion based classical ensemble group, and what I've tried to do is combine voice — you know, we have basically three styles of singing, or three styles of music in India: one is the vocal, second is instrumental and third is percussion. It's there in all kinds of music in the world. And we have two systems, that's the Hindustani, which is the North Indian system, and the Carnatic, which is the South Indian system of music. And they are both extremely well evolved systems in their own right. So, Stree Shakti combines the repertoires of Hindustani and Carnatic music and also combines voice with instrumental and percussion. But it's percussion bass, so essentially the percussion interacts with all that.

Holly: So you compose, you accompany, you have your own group that you started. What's your favorite way of doing your thing?

AP: All that. I love to play Tabla solo, I love to accompany musicians, different musicians, I enjoy the challenge. In fact, there have been a lot of people who told me initially when I first started off, who said, 'Why do you want to learn, why do you want accompany musicians. Why don't you just play Tabla solo?' And I said 'No, I want to be able to adapt, I want to be able to play with different musicians, because I enjoy the process of interaction.

This process of interaction between the music, the musician that you are playing with, and the Tabla player is a very unique one in our music. Because, nothing is fixed in the music, all that is fixed is the rag, or the tal. The rag is the melody, and the tal is the rhythmic cycle that we are playing. That is fixed, but then there is a lot of scope for improvisation within that. So, very often it has happened that I am playing on the stage and suddenly the artist feels like, I want to play it in half beats, and I'm hearing it, as the audience is hearing it, I haven't been warned about it, even a minute earlier. And that is essentially the challenge, because you've got to be actually so prepared to do anything, whether you are accompanying, or whether you are composing music, or whether you are playing Tabla solo, or I am doing music for my group.

There's from four beats to 360 beats, now there are 360 rhythmic cycles in our music, so it's not like 4, three 4's, and 4, 6, all those common systems you would know. Or we would have perhaps quarters, you know like so ranging from four beats to 108 beats, so that means 108 beats you've got to be able to count in your head, and that's exactly why you are so intensely involved, because you're counting.

That's why your eyes are…people don't understand…people say to me, 'Where are looking?' because I'm actually probably looking at you, but I'm not looking at you.

Holly: You look like you're a calculator?

AP: Somewhere else, I don't know. I'm not aware of what I'm doing, I'm honestly not aware.

Holly: Does it, the Tabla keep you humble?

AP: Ay, it always does. That's the great thing, you know, when I play or when I am practicing especially, I'm always humbled by the fact of how little I know. I actually know nothing, I'll tell you honestly. Everyday, I get up in the morning, feeling, God, I didn't do anything, you know, I got so much to do, and miles to go before I sleep literally, and I've just begun, and that's why I always feel that I'm just a student, you know.

I've been fortunate to get a lot of love and respect, but I have so much more to do, and that's what is constantly egging me on, that "work hard, work hard," and I love that feeling, because I think that there's so many people who through their life thinking, 'O.K. now what?' and I never come to that part, I never come to that impasse, because I'm always feeling I've got this thing more to do, I've got this thing more to do, and that's a great kick in itself, that's something…fantastic.

Anuradha was featured in the B. B. C. Radio World service programme as one of the Five Prominent Women Musicians of India in 1991. An approved artist on the prestigious panel of the I. C. C. R. Anuradha has performed extensively all over the country for major organisations like the Sangeet Research Academy (Calcutta). Sangeet Natak Academy, North / south / East Zonal Centres, M. P. Kala Parishad, Vishnu Digamber Jayanti Samaroh, Spirit of Unity Concerts, Bharat Bhawan, N.C.P.A., Spic Macay amongst many others.

"STREE SHAKTI", the first All Women's North-South Percussion Fusion Ensemble was founded by Anuradha Pal in 1996. A unique synthesis of percussion with melody combining some of the best talents in Hindustani & Carnatic music, in traditionally male-dominated fields has earned "STREE-SHAKTI" wide appreciation in its performances all over the country.

She has performed in many reputed American Universities like Harvad, Johns Hopkins Institute, Carnegie Mellon, etc with famous Vocalist Pt.Jasraj as well as given many Tabla Solo cum Lecture-demonstrations.

She has performed in many European countries as well as in Hong-Kong with different artistes.

She accompanied famous Vocalist Smt.Veena Sahasrabuddhe in the famous, Voices of the World in Denmark - Europe and has won acclaim and appreciation both from the audience and musicians the world over.

Anuradha has many Cassettes - CDs of her Tabla solo & accompaniment with stalwarts notably those with Sultan Khan, Vishwamohan Bhatt and Tarun Bhattacharya to her Credit.

with Michael Cathcart
Friday 05/05/2000


The Drum Solo
Listen (help listening with RealAudio)

Summary:


One of the great musical gifts bequeathed by the 20th century has been the drum solo. From jazz drummer Buddy Rich, to mad Keith Moon and on to the Roland 808 drum machine, the 20th century has been a drumming century. But where did our love affair with the drum come from? The answer lies somewhere between Africa and India.

Anuradha Pal is recognised as being the only professional female tabla player in the world. She is a student of the great Zakir Hussain and is currently touring the country promoting her album Anu, which translates to be Special.

While the influence of her Guru is evident in Anuradha's playing, there is an inherent need and direction to be creative and individualistic. The well rounded and balanced production of sounds on the Tabla and Baya and the clarity of the notes produced reflect the tremendous amount of practice and determination.

Guests on this program:

Anuradha Pal Tabla maestro

Tony Lewis Sydney based percussionist & ethnomusicologist, member of group "Sangam"